Creaky Boards

Creaky Boards emerged in New York in 2004 as an eccentric, bright-eyed anti-folk duo comprised of singer/songwriter Andrew Hoepfner and trumpet player Jason Benjamin. The duo generated a bit of buzz in the New York anti-folk scene and went on to perform at high-profile venues like the Knitting Factory and the 2004 Summer Antifolk Fest. Led by Hoepfner, who proved himself to be the creative force driving the band, Creaky Boards soon swelled to include five members. The newly expanded band's debut full-length, Where's the Sunshine?, was released in 2005; it found Creaky Boards moving beyond their anti-folk roots and delving into sunny, fun-loving indie pop that nodded to acts like Saturday Looks Good to Me and Fishboy. Creaky Boards' rotating cast of characters expanded to six over the course of the next year. Their sophomore release, Brooklyn Is Love, came out in late 2007. One track from that album, "The Songs I Didn't Write," was the subject of some controversy in the summer of 2008. Using a YouTube mash-up to illustrate his point, Hoepfner alleged that Coldplay had copied "The Songs I Didn't Write" in composing "Viva la Vida," a song that was featured on a commercial airing at that time. Coldplay shot down the claim, denying any knowledge of Hoepfner's song prior to recording "Viva la Vida."